On Oct. 3 this year, Tirey successfully reached his goal of 176,200 push-ups, documenting his mission along the way on his YouTube channel, Pushing Through Cancer.
“The goal is to bring awareness to blood cancer, and the number of push-ups really drives home just how many people are affected,” Tirey said. “I have cancer, but I’m not going to let that change who I am. I’m going to put one foot in front of the other and fight it every day, and the push-ups are symbolic of that.”
Tirey not only accomplished his goal of raising awareness, but inspired many along the way, including his doctors at The Ohio State University James Cancer Treatment and Research Center.
“To be able to see somebody who is undergoing treatment who is feeling so well that they can do over 500 push-ups a day I think can be really inspiring,” said James hematologist Dr. Jennifer Woyach.
Tirey knows how critical a person’s mental state can be when receiving and facing a diagnosis.
“You need to get out of that ‘woe-is-me’ headspace and into that ‘I’m going to do something about it’ headspace,” Tirey said. “This has given me a mission, something to do. ... It keeps my mind on living."
People are able to watch Tirey’s journey on his Pushing Through Cancer YouTube channel.
“This isn’t something where I’m splicing together a bunch of clips. It is one continuous video because I want it to be authentic and show the real struggle of cancer treatment,” Tirey said. “Hopefully others can use this to fuel their own fire because I truly believe exercise will always make you feel better, even on days when it’s hard.”
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